1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to material drying and, in particular, apparatus and methods for dispersion of material into a drying gas stream.
2. Background of the Related Art
Pulse combustion dryers and spray dryers are used to dry a variety of materials. The materials may be introduced into a drying gas stream through one or more introduction devices, which include nozzles tubes, orifices, and other such structures adapted to introduce the materials into the drying gas stream. However, the materials to be dried can be highly viscous. Frequently, the materials to be dried take the form of slurry, paste, or other non-readily flowable form that tends to clog the introduction device. The materials to be dried regularly include long molecular chains, chunks, elongated fibers, or have other such characteristics that can tend to cause clogging of the introduction device. During the drying process, these materials may form clumps, aggregations, agglomerations, and other non-uniformities in the introduction device. Current designs of introduction devices used in pulse combustion dryers may fail to adequately break up these clumps as the material is introduced into the drying gas stream. Therefore may fail to produce a generally uniform dried material in terms of moisture content and/or material size which in many applications of pulse combustion dryers is the desired result. Accordingly, a need exists for apparatus and methods for the introduction of material into a drying gas stream.